When, for example, manufacturers, sales companies and the like of various measurement equipments such as blood cell counting device, concentration measuring device and the like (hereinafter such supplying side is to be also referred to as supplier) deliver measurement equipments to various medical institutions (hereinafter to be also referred to as user), it is desirable to not only make delivery but also remotely monitor various kinds of information (operational information) relating to the state of use, measurement sensitivity and the like of the measurement equipments even after delivery and provide users with prompt service and support regarding maintenance, accuracy management and the like. Such services and support are unique to measurement equipment requiring daily continuous maintenance.
Therefore, many suppliers connect measurement equipment delivered to users to a management apparatus (usually a server computer) on the supplier side via a communication terminal and a communication line attached to the measurement equipment to enable data communication, remotely monitor information data relating to the state of the measurement equipment by the management apparatus, and provide various services and support relating to the measurement equipment based on the monitoring results (e.g., patent document 1 and the like).
In a more detailed example, a user who uses measurement equipment operates the measurement equipment for, for example, the analysis of specimen. The measurement equipment automatically measures the state of each part of the equipment itself through a sensor and the like set inside. The measurement equipment stores the results thereof as information data at the time of normal operation by the user (i.e., information data at a normal time, not a special situation) in the storage (memory) device in the measurement equipment. Further, the measurement equipment transmits the information data at the normal time to the management apparatus via a communication path (e.g., communication device, communication line and the like) at a normal time. The management apparatus accumulates the information data at the normal time received from the measurement equipment in the storage device, and displays same on the screen of the display device as, for example, a graph over time as shown in FIG. 5(a) and the like. The person in charge of monitor on the supplier side monitors the graph and the like and promptly and appropriately provides various services and support relating to the measurement equipment to the user according to the state of the measurement equipment indicated in the graph.
[patent document 1] JP-A-2008-249590
When an unexpected problem (e.g., operational problem and the like) occurs in the measurement equipment, the measurement equipment is brought to the supplier side for adjustment depending on the problem. The person who adjusts same on the supplier side adjusts and operates the measurement equipment while checking the state of each part of the equipment.
However, when the present inventor detailedly examined a case where the measurement equipment is adjusted and operated in a state other than the normal state, namely, non-normal time state, as mentioned above, it was found that the following problem may arise in conventional management apparatuses.
For example, the measurement equipment also stores the information data of each part of the apparatus, when operated in the non-normal state, in the storage device in the apparatus. The coordinator transmits the information data at such non-normal time to the management apparatus as a part of continuous record, and the management apparatus records the received information data at a non-normal time as data indicating the state of the measurement equipment. The problem is that the management apparatus does not recognize the transmitted information data as data at a non-normal time, handles it in the same manner as with the information data at a normal time, and outputs same to the display device and the like in the same way. When the management apparatus treats the information data at a normal time and the information data at a non-normal time without discrimination, the following confusion may occur in the service on the supplier side.
The management apparatus displays information data at a normal time, which is received from the measurement equipment before non-normal time (that is, at the time of normal operation on the user side), on the screen of the display device as a time-course graph (plots A10 in graph of FIG. 5(b). The graph indicates change in the measured data of respective pressures at pressurization, atmospheric pressure release, and depressurization in a pump in medical equipment, as one embodiment of the information data. However, the information data of non-normal time (adjustment time in this example) may sometimes be greatly different from plot A10 of the information data at a normal time before that, thus reflecting the change of parts and sensors, as shown as the last four plots A20 in the graph of FIG. 5(b). For example, when a person in charge of monitor on the supplier side sees the plot A10 at the normal time and the plot A20 at the non-normal time as shown in FIG. 5 (b) before knowing the information that the measurement equipment is adjusted, the person in charge of the monitor may recognize that the state of the measurement equipment is abnormal. This is the above-mentioned confusion of service on the supplier side.
In view of the aforementioned problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a management apparatus capable of informing an operator that the information data at a non-normal time obtained from the measurement equipment is that of a non-normal time when the information data is recorded in the management apparatus.